Publications

A Detailed Proposal for a Feasible Electoral Reform

26 Elul 5777 | 17 September 2017

The changes proposed here are the result of years of research, data analysis and comparative studies. We believe that the reforms outlined in this paper would be beneficial, that they would have a realistic chance of being implemented, and that they would strike a delicate balance between conflicting agendas.

This paper is a detailed proposal for the reform of Israel’s electoral system.

The changes proposed here are the result of years of research, data analysis and comparative studies. We believe that the reforms outlined in this paper would be beneficial, that they would have a realistic chance of being implemented, and that they would strike a delicate balance between conflicting agendas.

The proposed reform is aimed at achieving the following overall goals:

To make Members of Knesset (MKs) more accountable and answerable to their voters;

To improve government stability.

When addressing electoral reform, equally laudable goals are often incompatible with one another. For example, reforms aimed at guaranteeing government stability may distort or even disregard the will of voters. Moreover, the purpose of electoral reform must not only look good on paper but must also be feasible to implement.

Our proposal takes into account Israel’s political reality – the interests and considerations of the parties and the likelihood of their supporting these reforms. In order to achieve the above two goals and to gather the support of a majority of MKs, we recommend the following:

Enabling voters to select candidates on the lists submitted by parties for Knesset elections.

Establishing a mechanism for the formation of multi-party alliances (hereafter: “multi-party alliance/s” or “alliance/s”);

These two reforms should not be made mandatory, in order not to deter the current parties from supporting the reforms. Parties will be free to opt out. The parties will also have an incentive not to opt out, because many voters are more likely to vote for a party that enables “election-day primaries” (i.e. the selection of candidates by voters on the party list for which they vote).

This paper consists of three parts and nine appendixes. Part one details the main goals of electoral reform. Part two outlines the mechanism for achieving these goals. Part three explains in more detail the means by which these reforms will achieve their goals. The appendixes provide facts, data and explanations
concerning the proposed reform.